Despite what some people might believe, wine has not always simply been an enjoyable drink. Documents have been found over the years that suggest people once thought wine could cure stomach ulcers, stop cancer spreading and even reverse the effects of aging.  In reality, wine is almost definitely responsible for more ailments and injuries than it cures. Believe it or not over 1500 people injured themselves in 2008 in the U.S just by using a bottle opener.That said, every now again wine surprises everyone by showing some amazing qualities, which is exactly what has recently happened at the University of Minnesota, where a wine-massage study has shown the healing effects of both the red and white varieties.

The claim follows a 7 month trial carried out at the university, where mainly athletes with muscles tissue damage had wine applied and rubbed into the skin as part of the recovery massage regime. The study showed that remarkably, those people who had wine included in their massage sessions, showed around a 20% increase in the rate of muscle recovery.Liam Herring, head researcher for the study notes that “muscles, regardless of how vigorously they are used, will always pick up damage of some sort…the research that we conducted showed the the healing of this damage was speed ed up when wine was included in participant’s recovery massages.The experts that carried out the study have suggested that the alcohol in the wine is partly responsible for this effect, as it allows the muscles to relax even more than normal by desensitising nerve endings. This relaxation then allows a vaso-dilation of the blood vessels that surround muscle tissue and means more healing nutrients can get to the damaged tissue.This said, when the scientists tested other beverages with similar levels of alcohol content, the same positive effects on muscle healing were not recorded, which suggests there are additional elements in the wine that influence the process.

You probably won’t find that there is a rush in wine rack sales from health spas around the country, but maybe they will invest in some slow wine pourers just to give it a go.